New phone systems aimed at replacing legacy PBXes at smaller firms
Aiming at a multibillion dollar market, Cisco this week revamped its IP PBXes to address midmarket needs. The Cisco Business Edition 3000 and 6000 — formerly known as Unified Communications Manager Business Edition 3000 and 6000 – have been streamlined specifically for businesses with 75 to 750 employees.
The systems feature integrated collaboration capabilities such as presence, IM and WebEx conferencing. They also support SIP trunking which could help midsize business save in telecom costs.
Cisco is also offering the systems at a price point it hopes midsize companies will find attractive: $100/user for a 100-user Business Edition 3000 system; and $158/user for a 225-user system of the Business Edition 6000. Cisco says this well help smaller companies rid themselves of legacy PBXes and telephony applications they’ve been clinging to due to fears of the cost of moving to VoIP.
It’s a sizable base. According to Dell’Oro Group, the hybrid IP/TDM PBX market was $910 million in the second quarter, a 4% sequential decline from Q1. Annually, that’s a $3.5 billion market.
The IP PBX market alone in 2011 is projected by Dell’Oro to be $1.5 billion, down from $1.6 billion in 2010.
Cisco’s Business Edition 3000 is targeted at companies with 75 to 200 employees. The SIP capability will allow these companies to potentially save money by going through a SIP service provider for PSTN connectivity rather than leasing a PSTN line. The system also integrates Cisco WebEx web conferencing and Jabber for IM and presence.
Video can be delivered when customers use the Cisco Unified IP Phones 8941 and 8945.
The 3000 also includes country-specific dial plans for the US, Canada, China, India, Russia and Australia. Dial plans for the UK, France, Spain and Italy are scheduled to be available in the first quarter of 2012. User and administrator interfaces are also presented in localized languages.
The 6000 also includes WebEx and Jabber, as well as embedded VMware virtualization software to control virtualized voice messaging and call control applications. Cisco says this will save companies money by eliminating the need for them to acquire and maintain their own virtualization software.
Cisco says it also lowered the minimum user requirement for Business Edition 6000 to 50 users from 100.
The new phone systems are available now.
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